Janet Mills said in a letter to lawmakers on Thursday that Maine's Constitution requires a balanced budget. She says any effort to continue the current budget or pass a temporary budget would result in an unbalanced budget.

Earlier Thursday, the Republican governor called on lawmakers to put in place a 60-day continuing resolution to buy time to come up with a new budget that doesn't raise taxes and avoids a government shutdown. The LePage administration maintains that would be legal.

Democrats say that a 60-day temporary budget fix won't be necessary. They say they have enough votes to override the governor's veto next week.